Navigating 32 years of negligence

Unthinkable how the long simm0ering-problem of the Retirement Fund has been ignored for 32 long years or since its founding in 1980. Not only was its design shortsighted, it was fraught with political dangers and has resulted in deficit spending and mounting debts today.

Coupled with the huge plunge in local revenues (by a whopping $154 million) leadership should have been agile by summoning a timely summit to sift through fact and fiction of the impact of an impending economic disaster. It boggles the mind that even with this critically vital information, leadership did nothing but sing “ke sera, sera.” Why the perennial acquiescence and dismissive attitude when the consequence of devastation is headed our way like deadly magma?

Is it a case of more young retirees collecting pension pay while contributions from active members are insufficient to meet bi-monthly pension requirements? In other words, is there more pay out than collection to mitigate the system going belly up? Or do we even know this after 32 years of mañana? Wherein lies the crux of the problem? Is there a need to increase the retirement age to 62 with 75 as the mandatory cutoff point?

More to the point:Since 1980 or some 32 years ago the elected and appointed officials have treated the financial inadequacy of the fund like a filthy leper. Everyone would look and poke it with a 10-foot pole, ignore it hoping it could magically heal itself without appropriating seed funding for obligations. From the outset, money for its payout has come from the central government. It now pays out some $60-90 million annually. It’s unsustainable no matter how you twist it.

A close scrutiny would mean that a good portion of the money paid to retirees comes from private industries and their employees. Is this fair? Why should they be paying for a program they are not a part of? How long must we force them to pay for the bi-monthly requirements of the program? Why is the government using private industries’ and their employees’ contributions for purposes of the Fund?

Revenues head south

Had the NMI undertaken critical review to ensure the Fund’s solvency, it stands to reason that we wouldn’t be scrambling for cover today. Given the need for major reform coupled with 32 years of negligence, it has been destined for bankruptcy from the outset.

It is now at Death Cliff. Indeed, some share the view that the dysfunctional administration coughs up the requisite funds, but against the receding tide of revenue streams going Deep South even this would be woefully prohibitive. This happens when we stop using math on fiscally responsible paradigms. Now there’s revulsion from retirees.

In brief, Fund payment obligations piles up by leaps and bounds while revenue generation decreases significantly making any further cushioning fiscally impossible. Herein lies the mess!

Interesting too how those who are guilty of averting the resolution of the fund’s fate have seen fit to engage in the blame game or what has escalated into a raucous mudslinging match. Well, if none of the mudslingers did anything concrete to the resolve the issue then, why are you all being accusatory with heavy decibels? Yelling the loudest isn’t going to change the fact that you all have failed the retirees!

Realistically, even amongst wealthy countries, pension programs have gone bankrupt and the idea of ascertaining solvency is stuck in the filthy swamp frequented by dangerous people known as “politicians”. They often visit the venue for suntan. Look no further than the US Social Security System and be guided accordingly. Is there really lasting solutions in sight for the impending disaster?

No longer ‘everything’s government’

Part of the culprit then and now is the mindset that “everything is government.” I recalled arguing with a fully trained private sector employee who sought for years to move into a government job. I was successful in placing him somewhere.

The first thing that bothered him was the attitude of fellow co-workers who literally sit all day long yawning, smoking, and chewing betel nut, sipping coffee while struggling to look intelligent. I mean it’s the garden-variety group of drone workers who raise their collar and sport the teeny almighty privilege that working for the government is the one mighty sword. In brief, hardly any of them ever earned their dues. And they boast of their salaries that are higher than their counterparts in private industries. Humiliating, isn’t it?

My friend finally assimilated into the drone workers’ troops and now shirks his responsibilities every inch of the way. If the goal of government employment is deterioration of acquired skills, then we have succeeded grandly on this score. How pathetic the poor quality of workers in government each of whom becomes governor when he or she wants to.

Ever tried seeking assistance from royal misfits in the various agencies? I will not forget one whose specialty is absenteeism yet she takes home her fully paid loot. She doesn’t work on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. She reports on Wednesdays and looks forward to austerity Fridays. The government has a garden-variety of this drone group of employees. And they have the gall to receive our hard-earned backbreaking tax dollars? A`Saina!

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Splurging with scarce resources

The NMI now looks to Uncle Sam’s Social Security system to move non-contributing member of the Fund. It’s a system that reportedly on its way to bankruptcy 2033. So it’s a move from one bankruptcy to the next.

We toyed around with scarce resources of the Fund. In the first place, is the Fund a financial or banking institution? Is the Fund a housing agency? Why the splurge amidst uncertainty then and now whether it could muddle through financially? Why must others suffer the unintended consequence of this bankruptcy due largely to ill-conceived and lamed decisions by politicians who played Santa Claus for 32 long years?

Interesting though how the Fund became the focal attraction of locals who see it as their perky savior upon retirement. So there’s the powerful move to matriculate into the public sector at all cost. It was an avenue to bloat the payroll that was achieved in sterling fashion too. Now the system is broke! Do they still see public sector jobs an attractive lot for their golden years? Or hasn’t this been instantly flushed out of the gates of “No Mas?”

Add the lingering “cargo cult” mindset–historic belief that money rains from the skies—and you’d painfully discover why the detrimental reliance on “everything is government” is no longer the case. In the meantime, private industries have contracted significantly translating revenue generation into mind numbing degeneration. It means far less for far more.

The huge plunge in revenues would prompt and accelerate significant cuts in public services from public safety, public education, and public health, among others. With drained scarce resources, we still mouth off opportunities for reinvestment. This phenomenon would take at least two decades to lure into paradise. What hopelessness!